The study, which utilizes Natural Language Processing techniques, analyzed over 63,000 tweets. It has been published in Social Science Computer Review and examines the role of journalism in the case of former minister Irene Montero and the targeting of female politicians.
Given the responsibility of journalists, the researchers suggest that media outlets establish guidelines to regulate the discourse expressed by their employees on X and the need for norms that prevent the excessive dissemination of hate speech in journalistic pieces.
València, 21 of November 2024. Researchers from the Instituto Universitario Valenciano de Investigación en Inteligencia Artificial (VRAIN) at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and Fundación ValgrAI , María José Castro-Bleda, and Lluís F. Hurtado, along with researcher from the Universitat de València, María Iranzo-Cabrera, and from the Universidad de Valladolid, Iris Simón-Astudillo, emphasize the crucial responsibility of journalism professionals in the propagation of hate speech on Twitter.
This is the main conclusion of the work published by the Social Science Computer Review under the title “Journalists’ Ethical Responsibility: Tackling Hate Speech Against Women Politicians in Social Media Through Natural Language Processing Techniques”. The study analyzed over 63,000 tweets about a political violence campaign against Spain’s former Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, using artificial intelligence and natural language processing techniques.
“The results show that half of the tweets contained hate speech, and many journalists contributed to the polarization and attacks. This work highlights the ethical responsibility of journalists in environments of digital harassment and hate speech” explains María José Castro-Bleda, researcher at VRAIN and ValgrAI.
Two Self-Regulatory Measures
Therefore, the researchers propose two self-regulatory measures in the article. On one hand, “when the accounts of professionals are linked to a media outlet in their biography, which is most common, it is necessary for the media to establish guidelines to regulate the hate speech expressed by their employees on X,” emphasizes Lluís F. Hurtado, researcher at VRAIN and ValgrAI.
And on the other hand, he adds that “norms are necessary to prevent the excessive dissemination of hate speech in journalistic pieces, both those made by third parties and by the journalists themselves.” The research determines whether, immersed in campaigns of online defamation and gender, journalists improve the quality of public debate or, on the contrary, reinforce the visibility of these hostile contents.
Expressions of Hate and Inappropriate Language
For this, the study examines a sample of 63,926 tweets published between November 23 and 25, 2022 related to the political violence campaign against the then Spanish Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, following statements against her by VOX deputy, Carla Toscano. Through tools of natural language processing and qualitative content analysis, the study highlights that during those three days, at least half of the tweets containing the word ‘Montero’ included expressions of hate and inappropriate language.
In this climate of hostility, the 83 journalists who participated in the debate—with over 10,000 followers each—not only had the capacity to attract likes and retweets but also showed polarization and used hate speech, whether their own (37.58%) or through quotes from others (11.41%).
Each ideological position—both for and against the minister—is also reflected in their own uncivil strategies. Under the umbrella of freedom of expression and aside from argumentative discourses, journalists leaning towards ideological progressivism tend to insult their opponents, labeling them as “fascists,” “Nazi horde,” or “a bunch of pigs and shameless whores.”
On the other hand, those leaning towards right-wing politics primarily use divisive constructions, stereotypes, and ironies as attack techniques. On one hand, they shift the meaning of “violence” against Montero to that which she, supposedly, has generated with the approval of the ‘SoloSíesSí’ law. And on the other hand, they justify the hate campaign by pointing out the supposed mistreatment that the minister and her party have exerted against the opposing ideological side. When observing the professional positions of those who publish hate speech, there are editors (19), columnists (14), directors of pseudo-media (7), editors (7), media directors (2), editors in pseudo-media (2), and cartoonists (4).
In addition, 42 journalistic companies participated in this online debate. 2.38% of the tweets published by official media accounts incorporated hate speech (4) and 27.38% (48) reproduced expressions of hate from others. These include quoted citations or video clips. 31.25% (15 tweets) include an insult or offensive term, and 29.17% (14 tweets) reproduce the stereotype of Montero as a woman who has benefited from a man. Additionally, among the tweets with more than 50 likes and/or retweets (2,239), 138 news articles were shared, of which 76.81% included hate, either in the statements collected or directly in the text of the journalist.
